The need for a larger labor force in Southwest Minnesota is at peak heights and employers are looking for strategies that keep local high school and college graduates in the region. The analysis of 38,154 southwest high school graduates shows that their post-high school paths and plans are related to whether an individual has meaningful workforce…

This study examined how social constructs of race or ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomic status (SES) are multiplicatively associated with high school students' schooling experiences and aspirations. Using a critical quantitative intersectionality framework to analyse data from the 2016 Minnesota Student Survey, this study found that the…

Youth development researchers have focused on persistent challenges facing youth in diverse urban settings; thus, we know less about youth in rural communities. Using multilevel modeling, we explored contextual factors associated with school grades and educational aspirations. We find that, on average relative to students from urban schools,…

This ethnographic study explores what happens in the lives of two 1.5-generation undocumented Latino youth that results in academic engagement or disengagement. It examines how turning points, policy, language proficiency, school structure, economic needs, and family and personal circumstances affect academic identities. Findings reveal how…

This study examined rural-nonrural differences in postsecondary educational expectations and the attainment of expectations for grade 10 students attending rural and nonrural high schools in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest region and how these differences compare with rural-nonrural differences in the rest of the nation. For…

"The Condition of College and Career Readiness" looks at the progress of the 2016 ACT®-tested graduating class relative to college and career readiness. This state briefing begins with statistics in the following categories for Minnesota: performance, STEM, career readiness, impact, behaviors that impact access and opportunity, pipeline,…

Prior research shows that rural students' education expectations and aspirations, as well as their postsecondary enrollment and persistence rates, tend to be lower than those of nonrural students. However, much of that prior research may not apply to today's students because it uses old data or focuses on individual states or purposive samples.…

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent do CTSOs affect student psychosocial and achievement outcomes (above and beyond stand-alone CTE programs) when controlling for gender and race. Using a cross-sectional descriptive research design, a total of 5,677 students from 10 states were surveyed regarding their high school…

This report provides information about the performance of Minnesota's 2016 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2016. Beginning with the Graduating Class of 2013, all students whose scores are college reportable, both standard and…

The girls of girls' schools, the author believes, are a kind of Platonic Form of American girl, an ideal to which most of the rest of society, of the country's meritocratic system, aspires for their daughters, a reflection of one's deepest values. She believes girls all over the country, in all high schools, want The Dream. They want to achieve…

This report provides information about the performance of 2010 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2010 and tested under standard time conditions. This report focuses on: (1) Performance: student test performance in the context of…

Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. This report is offered as a service to inform policymakers and practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness and how that translates into readiness. It is designed to stimulate discussion, inquiry, and action. This report is…

This report provides information about the performance of Minnesota's 2012 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2012 and tested under standard time conditions. This report focuses on: (1) Performance: student test performance in the…

This report provides information about the performance of 2009 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2009 and tested under standard time conditions. This report focuses on: (1) Performance: student test performance in the context of…